12 Top Things to Do in Madeira, Portugal

Topping every list of things to do in Madeira is the PR1 Vereda do Areeiro - the ridge walk between Madeira's third-highest peak (Pico do Arieiro, 1,818 m) and its highest (Pico Ruivo, 1,862 m). The full one-way route is 7 km, takes 3 to 4 hours, and crosses three lit tunnels, a series of stone steps cut into the cliff edge, and viewpoints where you walk above the cloud line at sunrise.

The trail is rated hard. There are exposed sections with steep drops, ladders, and over 1,000 m of cumulative climbing if you return on the same path. Most hikers arrange a one-way taxi or transfer from the Pico Ruivo end (via Achada do Teixeira) to skip the brutal return ascent.

Cabo Girão has held the title of Europe's tallest sea cliff at 580 m for centuries, and since 2012 a glass-bottomed Skywalk has cantilevered straight out over the drop. The platform is free to enter, open 8 am to 8 pm, and offers a near-vertical view down to the fajãs (small farming terraces) on the rocky shoreline below, plus the curving south coast all the way back to Funchal.

The viewpoint sits above Câmara de Lobos, the fishing village that Winston Churchill famously painted in 1950 from the harbour below. Most visitors combine the two stops in a single morning. A separate cable car (Teleférico do Rancho - Fajã dos Padres) on the opposite side of the cliff descends 250 m to a quiet pebble beach and a renowned seafood restaurant.

Monte is a leafy hilltop suburb 550 m above Funchal that delivers three of the island's defining experiences in a single half-day. Start with the Teleférico do Funchal, a 15-minute glass cable car climb from the Old Town seafront that costs 18 EUR return. At the top, Monte Palace Tropical Garden (15 EUR entry) spreads across 70,000 m² of terraced ravines with koi ponds, Japanese pagodas, and one of Europe's largest azulejo tile collections.

The famous descent is the Carreiros do Monte - wicker toboggans that slide down 2 km of public road from outside the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte to Livramento. Two straw-hatted carreiros in white linen push and steer the basket using their rubber-soled boots as brakes, reaching speeds of around 35 km/h. The 10-minute ride costs 30 EUR for two passengers.

On Madeira's wild northwestern tip, the village of Porto Moniz is home to a series of natural swimming pools carved by lava flows over thousands of years. Smooth black basalt walls hold clear seawater that refreshes with each Atlantic swell, and a paid complex called Piscinas Naturais do Porto Moniz (3 EUR) has added ladders, sun terraces, lockers, and a cafe to the largest of the formations.

A few hundred metres west sits the free, more rugged set known as Piscinas Velhas, popular with locals. The drive in from Funchal is part of the appeal - the VE2 expressway hugs sheer cliffs through long tunnels, with a stop at the Véu da Noiva waterfall viewpoint in Seixal on the way.

Of Madeira's 2,170 km of levada trails, the Levada do Caldeirão Verde in Parque Florestal das Queimadas is the one most travellers come for. The 13 km return walk follows a single irrigation channel cut into the side of the central mountains, passing four hand-cut tunnels (some unlit and 100 m+ long) and ending at a vertical green amphitheatre where a waterfall plunges into a basin known as the Green Cauldron.

The path is mostly flat and shaded by laurel forest, a UNESCO-listed remnant of the prehistoric Laurissilva that once covered southern Europe. Allow 4 to 5 hours including breaks. The car park at Queimadas (5 EUR) fills early in summer.

Câmara de Lobos is a working fishing village 9 km west of Funchal where Winston Churchill set up his easel in January 1950 to paint the colourful boats in the harbour. The viewpoint where he stood (Miradouro Churchill) is signposted on the cliff road above the port, and his hand-painted plaque is one of the most photographed spots in Madeira.

The harbour itself is still full of black scabbardfish (espada) boats - the unusual eel-like fish caught at depths of 1,000 m+ that you will see on every restaurant menu on the island. Above the port, the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (1420) is the oldest in Madeira. The village also claims to be the birthplace of poncha, the local rum, honey, and lemon cocktail.

The Mercado dos Lavradores (Workers' Market) opened in 1940 and remains the daily shopping hub for Funchal's Old Town. Inside a 1930s Estado Novo building decorated with azulejo tile panels by Madeiran artist João Rodrigues, three levels of stalls sell tropical fruit, fresh fish, flowers, and Madeiran handicraft.

The ground floor is where the action is: vendors slice samples of custard apple, banana-passionfruit hybrid (banana-maracujá), and nêspera loquats. Downstairs, the fish hall shows off whole black scabbardfish on ice and tuna steaks the size of dinner plates. The flower stalls outside on Rua Brigadeiro Oudinot are staffed by women in traditional Madeiran dress.

Madeira wine has been made on the island since the 15th century and is one of the few wines deliberately aged through heat - traditionally in cargo holds that crossed the equator, today in temperature-controlled rooms called estufas. Blandy's Wine Lodge on Avenida Arriaga has been in continuous operation since 1840 and is the easiest place to learn the story.

The 17-EUR guided tour lasts 45 minutes, includes a walk through the original 17th-century pinewood casks, and ends with a tasting of three styles - dry Sercial, off-dry Verdelho, and sweet Bual or Malmsey. Older Frasqueira (vintage) bottlings, some over 100 years old, are sold at the on-site shop. American history fans will note that the founding fathers used Madeira to toast the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

On the rainy north coast, the Grutas e Centro do Vulcanismo de São Vicente turns Madeira's geological origins into a one-hour stop. Guided tours (10 EUR) walk 1,000 m through lava tubes formed by an eruption around 890,000 years ago - smooth basalt tunnels with original lava drip ceilings, an underground spring, and a small waterfall lit theatrically along the route.

The attached Volcanism Centre has a short film and a simulated eruption that explains how the entire Madeira archipelago was built by hotspot volcanism above the Atlantic seafloor. The site is in the Pé do Passo area of São Vicente parish on the north coast, an hour's drive from Funchal via the VE1 and VE4 expressway tunnels.

On Madeira's eastern tip, the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula breaks every rule about the island. The terrain is bare, golden-brown, and almost treeless - more North African than Atlantic - because the dry trade winds hit this cape first and dump all their rain on the lush interior. The PR8 trail (8 km return, 3 hours) traces the narrow ridge along the spine of the peninsula past red-and-ochre cliffs that plunge 100 m into the sea on both sides.

The route ends at Casa do Sardinha, a stone refuge where a side path drops down to a swimming cove. The peninsula is a designated Natura 2000 reserve protecting nesting Cory's shearwaters and Madeiran wall lizards. Pair it with a stop at Caniçal fishing village or Machico's beach on the drive back.

Madeira's sister island Porto Santo sits 43 km northeast and is the polar opposite of the main island - flat, sandy, and famously dry. The headline is a single, uninterrupted 9 km golden-sand beach that runs almost the full length of the south coast, regularly ranked among the best beaches in Europe and reputed to have medicinal properties from its unusual mix of biogenic sand and seawater.

The daily ferry Lobo Marinho, operated by Porto Santo Line from Funchal harbour, departs at 8 am, takes 2h 15min each way, and returns at 7 pm - giving you about seven hours on the island. A bus or taxi covers the 4 km from Porto de Abrigo to Vila Baleira, Porto Santo's only town and the birthplace of Christopher Columbus's wife Filipa Moniz.